UGA Wind Ensemble brings audience to Paris on Valentine's Day

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s 2^nd Thursday Scholarship Concert Series continues with “On the Road,” a performance by the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Tickets are $18 for the general public and $5 for UGA students, and are available at the Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706/542-4400 or online at pac.uga.edu.

The concert is presented as a sneak preview of the ensemble’s upcoming performance at the American Bandmasters Association 2013 Convention next month in Tampa, Fl., as well as its upcoming tour to Paris and Switzerland next summer.

“It’s quite fitting that our Valentine’s Day concert features many of the same compositions that we’ll be performing in Paris, one of the most romantic cities on the planet,” said John P. Lynch, professor at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and director of the 60-person Wind Ensemble.  “Joining the Wind Ensemble for a 2^nd Thursday performance is the perfect way to spend this romantic evening.”

In addition to classics by seminal old-world composers J.S. Bach and Antonín Dvořák, “On the Road” will also feature works by more contemporary American composers.  Visiting professor John Whitwell will conduct Aaron Copland’s Emblems, while George Gershwin’s An American In Paris and a world-premiere of Jess Turner’s Black Bolt!, commissioned especially for the UGA Wind Ensemble, round out the program.

Established in 1980, the 2nd Thursday Scholarship Series offers showcase performances by UGA students and faculty the second Thursday of each month throughout the academic year. Proceeds from individual ticket sales and season subscriptions allow for year-long academic scholarships and assistantships for students and presents donors the opportunity to sponsor individual students of the music school at several levels of giving. In 2011, the 2nd Thursday series provided scholarships to 30 students based on faculty recommendations, academic achievement and performance ability.

The next concert in the series will feature the UGA piano faculty, students, and friends in “Steinway Spectacular” in Hodgson Concert Hall on March 21 at 8 p.m. For more information on the 2nd Thursday Series or the Hodgson School of Music, please visit www.music.uga.edu.